Lillee Casselman - Recipient of the Undergraduate Research Award by the ACS Division of Inorganic Chemistry. - Department of Chemistry

Lillee Casselman, an undergraduate student in the Saouma Group here at the U, was selected as the sole recipient for the undergraduate research award by the ACS division of inorganic chemistry.

A little bit about Lillee and her project:

"I started working in the Saouma Group spring 2021 and have been doing research with the group ever since! I actually graduated this past spring but have been continuing to work for the group as a post-bac to wrap things up & hopefully submit a paper on my work soon. My project is on a cobalt electrocatalyst for carbon dioxide recycling. Metal electrocatalysts have been an exciting area for research, as they can provide a way to turn atmospheric CO2 back into a fuel source, making for a net zero carbon fuel cycle. Catalysts that are known to do this are often composed of expensive metal centers, or have other expensive starting materials required to make them - cobalt on the other hand, is a lot more earth-abundant and therefore cost-effective. At the moment I'm excited to continue working with the Saouma Group until the labs move out to Virginia Tech this December. I'm enjoying a gap year before applying to grad programs! This march I'll attend the Spring ACS meeting in New Orleans to present my research."